The Rt Revd Graham Usher (m1993), Bishop of Norwich, has accepted the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead the Church of England Environmental Programme from June 2021. He will tackle issues related to biodiversity loss and climate change, leading on the commitment to net-zero carbon impacts across the Church of England by 2030 set by General Synod in February 2020, strengthening an original proposal to reach that target by 2045.

A keen beekeeper and environmentalist, Bishop Graham completed a degree in ecological science at the University of Edinburgh before moving to Cambridge to study theology at Corpus. During his theology studies, he trained for the priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge, and St Nicholas Theological Seminary in Ghana. He has written two books about the relationship between spirituality and landscape – Places of Enchantment and The Way Under our Feet —and was previously a member of the Northumberland National Park Authority and Chair of the North East Advisory Committee of the Forestry Commission.

We asked him about the opportunities and challenges of the Church of England Environmental Programme, and his new role as Bishop for the Environment. 

You have a deep connection with nature. How did that develop and how does it benefit you?

As a child I grew up with countryside around our village and had the freedom to explore the woods, hedgerows, and ponds, collecting and recording various insect and amphibian specimens. The sense of awe and wonder of God’s creation has never left me and I value spending time in wild places. I guess these places, or just a daily walk in nature, re-balances me and draws me closer to the God in whom I live and move and have my very being. I remember talking to Oliver Rackham about this and recall him enthusing about the coppiced woodlands of Cambridgeshire and how he unpicked their history, making connection with the history of the Christian faith in these isles.

One action I undertake to share that connection within in my current ministry is to give a hazel sapling to each person I confirm as a symbol that disciples of Jesus are called to be stewards of creation. Also, because Mother Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth century mystic, held a hazel nut in the palm of her hand and three truths were revealed to her about all that God has made, “The first is that God made it; The second is that God loves it; The third is that God looks after it.”

You were recently appointed as the new Lead Bishop for the Environment. Can you tell us what this role means to you and what does this new role involve?

Most diocesan bishops take on an aspect of the national work of the Church of England and this role seemed a good fit. The role involves championing that aspect of the mission of the Church that seeks to care for God’s creation. Many Anglicans around the world, especially in the poorest places, are already impacted by climate change, yet the cause was not of their making – climate change knows no international borders. We are also seeing a huge loss in biodiversity which is deeply worrying not only because so much of our food production relies on insect pollination, but also because we are losing the precious breadth and wonder of creation. That can’t be as God intended, not least because throughout the first creation account in Genesis there is that beautiful repeated phrase that ‘God saw that it was good’.

What are the main priorities of the Church of England’s Environment Programme? 

We have an ambitious target of reaching net zero by 2030. That means that every church community needs to be thinking what it can do to contribute, whether by changing energy supplier to renewables, or using offset schemes, or generating solar, ground/air source, or wind energy on site, or considering these issues when the time comes to replace, for example, a boiler. I’m keen that we play out part in enhancing biodiversity on our land, especially churchyards which can be great places for the living diversity of life, as well as being places for the dead. Let them be Resurrection places of new life!

What are the challenges presented by your new appointment as Lead Bishop for the Environment?

The target is ambitious, but we need to move forward as we are called by God to tend and care for the earth. There is a great well of rich theological resources to draw on, and a huge number of volunteers in our parishes and chaplaincies who are already involved. We’ve seen that, for example, in the number of church communities that are working towards the Eco-Church awards scheme run by A Rocha UK. Young people are increasingly telling us that we are lagging behind in this whole area and I want to see how their voices and action might lead to the ‘ecological conversation’ that Pope Francis has said is needed.

The commitment to net-zero carbon impacts across the Church by 2030 is an important goal. What have been the actions of the Church of England towards accomplishing this target thus far?

The Church of England is on a journey and it’s really important that we get our own house in order. We’ve achieved much in the first year. Our new Energy Footprint Tool has calculated that we produce the equivalent carbon emissions of 21,000 homes per year from our 15,000 church buildings. Five per cent of our churches have already reached net zero, and we are promoting green tariffs, carbon offset schemes, and adaptations to our buildings which are not always straightforward given their age and listed status. However, the history of our buildings is always about adaptation. Look at the medieval churches of Norfolk and you see how new ideas were continually being introduced by our forebears. The emerging green technologies will help us, but we need to find ways in which they can become affordable for churches and other community buildings. That’s a conversation with government.

Do you think the goal will be achieved?

I’m a person of hopeful realism. We’ve made a good start. As we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, we know deep in our hearts that we need to reset how we live because the old ways were not sustainable. Harnessing a sense of the awe and wonder of creation will help us in that task as we learn to tread more gently on this our single island planet home. For me, that’s Gospel work.